The Memory Card:
"Color Me Accurate"
by David Arnold & Gail Rutman
Is what you see when you submit an image what photobuyers see when they open it on their monitor? Unless you’ve calibrated your monitor with a hardware-based calibration system, the answer is almost certainly no.
You already have a basic calibration tool. With Windows you can use the Adobe Gamma utility that’s built into both Photoshop and Elements (Start > Control Panel > Adobe Gamma). If you’re on a Mac, you have the built-in Display Calibrator Assistant (System Preferences > Displays > Color). Simply view a series of colors and patterns that are displayed on-screen, and adjust your monitor settings based on them. This approach, however, relies on the world’s most imprecise calibration device: the human eye.
Accurate calibration requires a precision measuring device, typically a colorimeter. This hardware device is placed on the screen of your CRT or LCD monitor. The accompanying software then displays a series of squares of known color and luminosity, and tracks the discrepancies between how they should appear and how they actually appear. The software then generates and stores a profile that your video card uses to correct the appearance of your images. The calibration process just takes a few minutes, and since monitors drift over time should be repeated periodically.
Calibration hardware, along with the software that walks you through this process, is available from ColorVision (www.colorvision.com), Digital Light and Color (www.dl-c.com), Monaco (www.xritephoto.com), and Greytag-McBeth (http://na.i1color.com). We tested units from two of these companies—Digital Light & Color’s Profile Mechanic, and ColorVision’s Spyder2—on one CRT monitor and two LCDs. Both units gave impressive results, but the Spyder2 had better documentation and was easier to use. On the other hand, the most thorough laboratory tests we’ve seen (The Seybold Report, 1/26/05) found Profile Mechanic’s monitor profile the most accurate.
Before buying any of these products, however, it’s a good idea to learn more about color management. Start with these free booklets: Complete Guide to Color Management, 40 pages, www.xritephoto.com, and Color Confidence Guidance for Digital Photography, 64 pages, www.colorconfidence.com. Then buy and read one of the following books:
Tim Grey, Color Confidence: The Digital Photographer’s Guide to Color Management, Sybex, 2004, 252 pages, $44.99. A good balance of theory and practice—enough of the former so you can do the latter.
Andrew Rodney, Color Management for Photographers: Hands on Techniques for Photoshop Users, Focal Press, 2005, 480 pages, $44.99; includes CD. The hands-on tutorials help clarify what might otherwise be vague concepts or precepts.
Bruce Fraser, et al, Real World Color Management, 2nd edition, Peachpit Press, 2005, 582 pages, $49.99. In-depth coverage of all aspects of color management.
Or for coverage specific to your operating system, read one of Joshua Weisberg’s books: Color Management in Mac OSX, 2004, 400 pages, $44.99, or Windows XP Color Management, 2006, 336 pages, $45; both from Peachpit Press.
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David Arnold and Gail Rutman are Oregon-based photographers who have been writing about photography and computers since 1980. You can contact them at www.dgfotos.com.
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